Fast Lane
Fast Lane is the fourth studio album by American singer Kate Logan. It was released on September 14, 2018, through Capitol Records. Its music incorporates pop, synth pop and alternative pop styles with instrumentation from guitars, drums, synthesizers, and bass. Its themes range from love struggles to life reflections. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including Lido, Greg Kurstin and Ian Kirkpatrick. The lead single from the album "Ferrari" was released in May and had a positive reaction from fans and critics who found it one of Logan's most personal songs to date, even more than "This Time Around". The second single "Messy' was released one week prior to the album's release, and one week after the release of "Dirty Little Secret", which was a promo single. Fast Lane debuted atop of the US Billboard 200, selling more than 237,000 copies (SPS), becoming her third consecutive album to reach that position in the country. Title and music Logan has pointed out that the album title was named after she noticed lots of songs were about the way she lived her life for the last years. Musically, the album is mainly rooted on pop music, specifically synth-pop and alternative pop. Background and musical style Fast Lane is a very personal album that deepens into her life compared with her previous album Problem, ''which was considered a 'truth teller album'. Musically, Logan stated that she didn't want her new album to be a radio album and that although it still has a more radio-friendly sound she still sees it as way more alternative compared to her previous work, which was very generic and safe pop; Logan also said that she is “more than capable of writing deeper stuff". For this album, Kate worked with several producers, including Greg Kurstin, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Justin Trantner. '''Singles' The album's lead single, "Ferrari", was released on May 21, 2018. Five days later, the song's music video, directed by Colin Tiley, was premiered. The single debuted at No. 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at number 6. The single stayed on the top 10 for six weeks. "Messy" was announced as the next single off the album on September 7, along with its release. It has peaked at No. 5 in the US, 3 in the UK, and 1 in Canada. It was also top 10 in most countries in Europe and Oceania. "I'm A Mess" was released as the third single off the album on November 5, 2018. It was one of the fan favorites from the album's release, so it was highly anticipated to be released as a single. "I'm A Mess" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 one week after the album's release, at number 16 due to huge streaming numbers. After it was sent to radio and had its music video released, the song peaked at number 1. It also reached the top 5 in Europe, including number 1 in the UK, Canada and France. Promotional singles On August 29, 2018, "Dirty Little Secret" was announced as a promotional single. It was released on August 31 on digital sales and streaming services peaking at number 1 on iTunes UK and UK. Critical reception Fast Lane received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 16 reviews. Entertainment Weekly's Madison Vain praised the album as "the darkest, weirdest, most irresistible pop record of the fall" and wrote, "While Logan's lyrics are stark and intensely personal, the music sounds engineered for the masses." Writing for NME, Nick Levine commented that "some listeners may not warm to Logan's persona, but her songwriting skills are difficult to fault", adding that "she keeps the hooks coming throughout as her hip, minimal synth-pop quivers, shimmers, pulses and throbs." Alim Kheraj of DIY noted that "Fast Lane ''isn't an album made for radio or easy digestion. The hooks are there but, like Kate herself, they aren't succumbing expectations." Jon Dolan of ''Rolling Stone opined that the album "doesn't have anything that hits quite as hard as 'This Time Around' and 'Beat', but its minimalist synth-pop-rock-ish sound has a darkly textured allure". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine concluded that "Fast Lane ''is admirably lean and tightly focused, and though it doesn't boast confessionals on the order of ''Some Kind Of Crap's, it offers a peek inside the psyche of a smart, burgeoning young star." Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork stated that "Fast Lane ''is very reflective and Logan finds ample darkness to plumb." ''The Observer's Kitty Empire expressed that "Fast Lane ''is, if anything, maturer than ''Problem. But it might not sell so well, in that it lacks the club bangers and radio-friendly sounds displayed in the latter's defining singles." Track listing